TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 467 
heavy and unnecessary expenditure, both in construction and maintenance, 
to say nothing of dust and other inconveniences. 
Disadvantages of Unnecessarily Wide Roads.—The classification of roads 
into arterial roads, secondary roads, and residential roads is commonly prac- 
tised in Germany and other European countries, and nowhere better than in 
Germany can be seen the disadvantages of excessive road widths, with the 
almost natural consequence of high rents and tall tenements. 
Garden Suburbs, &e.—Garden City and Garden Suburb schemes have every- 
where seized upon this possibility of economising, and in such places as Hamp- 
stead and Letchworth the residential roadways are not metalled to a greater 
width than sixteen feet, though the distance between the houses is maintained 
at sixty feet or more, this leaving room for forecourt gardens or grass margins. 
Access to Land.—In all problems of town development and the settlement of 
new towns the availability of land is of supreme importance. The questions of 
land values, land ownership, and land transfer are fundamentally bound up with 
town planning, housing, and improvement schemes. 
‘ Betterment.—No municipal authority can be expected to carry out any 
great scheme of improvement if there is no possibility of recoupment from the 
owners whose property has been improved. So long ago as 1666, in the 
rebuilding of London after the Great Fire, provision was made for ‘ betterment ’ 
charges on the owners of the property improved; and, in default of municipal 
ownership, some such system of recoupment is unavoidable. 
“Special Assessments.’.—In many American towns such as Kansas City, 
‘special assessments ’ for the acquisition of parks and similar purposes are in 
force and appear to be favourably received. 
Speculation and Land Transfer.—Speculation in land is much encouraged by 
the facility with which land transfers can be effected, and the effect of over- 
speculation from this cause is apparent both in Germany and in Australasia. 
The effect produced is a forced and unnatural increase of prices of land until 
we see the curious fact that land in Berlin is valued at three or four times the 
value of similar land in London, and, partly in consequence, nearly one-half of 
the population of Berlin live in one-roomed dwellings in tall tenements crowded 
round one or more internal courts. 
Methods of Taxation.—Methods of taxation, too, must be considered in this 
regard. An annual site tax on capital value leads undoubtedly to the use of 
land, at any rate to the extent necessary to defray the amount of the tax. In 
urban areas this means that fewer private open spaces will remain; in suburban 
areas the tendency is to put up any sort of structure that will act as 
a ‘taxpayer.’ The results in either case must be unsatisfactory, in the absence 
of any proper town planning scheme, defining the use to which any particular 
land is to be put in the general interests of the community. 
Leasehold and Frechold Tenures.—The relative uses of leasehold and freehold 
systems of ownership have been much discussed. Leaseholds enable land to be 
acquired cheaply with the minimum of capital, and also have the advantage on 
the leases falling in of a considerable amount of property being under one 
control, thus enabling comprehensive improvements to be carried out, as in the 
case of the South London property owned by H.M. the King, the leases of 
which have recently fallen in, and the property has been largely reconstructed. 
Municipal Ownership.-In German towns the municipality generally owns 
from one-third to one-half of the whole available building land, thus to some 
extent controlling speculation, and at the same time enabling the municipality 
to take the benefit of any improvement created by them. The great value of this 
method, however, lies in the control which it is possible for the municipality 
to obtain over the extension of their town. Individual freeholds, without some 
power of purchase or compulsory re-distribution as in the ‘Lex Adickes,’ will 
continually conflict with the interests of the community. In large estates in one 
ownership as at Letchworth and Hampstead, excellent results are obtained 
by central control, which gives benefit to the community and security’to the 
individual. 
General Conclusions.—Town planning powers would be of immense advantage 
to Australasia, but the special conditions call for special treatment and the 
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